American Century CEO Steps Down

James Stowers III, has stepped down as CEO of American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo., the company has announced. He will be co-chairman of American Century Companies with his father, James Stowers Jr., the company's founder. Stowers lll will also remain on the portfolio management teams for the American Century Ultra and Veedot funds.

The current president of American Century William M. Lyons will take on the additional role of chief executive officer and senior portfolio manager at American Century Growth, and C. Kim Goodwin will be co-chief investment officer for domestic growth equity, along with Stowers, according to American Century.

The moves, announced one week after the Chase Manhattan Corporation and J.P. Morgan & Co., both of New York, agreed to merge, were in the works beforehand and have nothing to do with the acquisition, according to Laura Kouri, a spokesperson for American Century. J.P. Morgan owns a 45 percent equity share of American Century.